"Unpopular Gaming Opinions"

[Blinge]

The only good turn-based RPGs are ones I have nostalgia for. The genre should be embarrassing to play for those who are post-adolescence.

You are awaited in the Jarpig thread

Sumez and I will give you a fisting

[Sumez]

The assumption that turn based combat is automatically worse than action combat has to imply that said action combat is actually good. This sounds like a given, but there's honestly a lot of modern video games where that is absolutely not the case.

The combat in Yakuza 1-6 was adequate at best, it served its purpose but didn't really have the depth to work as a real action game. When you stretch that kind of stuff out to cover a long-ass story driven game, there's no way you can make it work both as a tight arcade-paced beat'em up at the same time, so instead you're left with middling hack'n'slash stuff, where the only reason to engage in any combat in the first place is to make numbers go up.

With that perspective, the turn based encounters of Yakuza 7 serve the exact same purpose. They are never tactically satisfying, but merely serve the purpose of padding out the game, and to be honest they do a better job at that, entirely because if the amount of dumb sillyness they allow for.
Basically, if you're playing any Yakuza game for the gameplay, you're doing it wrong.

[Sumez]

On topic, here's the best I can probably do:


Every single GTA game is embarassing and childinsh, and features absolutely no redeeming qualities in terms of gameplay either.

Half-Life did nothing to innovate video games.

Bioshock Infinite is a horribly designed game with its head stuck too far up its own arse - Wolfenstein The New Order does every single thing that game tries to do, but better, and it doesn't even take itself seriously.

The amount of truly great JRPGs released the past two decades can be counted on two hands, if not one. What the genre means today has nothing to do with what it used to mean.

And just to get an actual genre related one in here - Shmups just aren't enjoyed at their best if you're not playing on a cabinet, and D-pads can get the hell outta here

[XoPachi]

Aside from Metroid Dread, Nintendo hasnt released an original video game I actually liked since Mario 3D World. Neither have the third parties making Switch exclusives.

Or at least there havent been games I can say I actually like without some kind of qualifier like "Splatoons fun when I just play the single player and treat it as a platformer instead of a shooter". Or "Kirby was...ok for his first 3D entry 3 generations after every other mascot his age jumped to 3D and did it better."

I liked Wii U games a lot what little it had, but they've lost me with the Switch. Nothing slated for release interests me at all either and its saddening. All they have are more anime games in big boring flat open worlds. I can only hope Bayo 3 is as good as the last 2.

---
I also agree that most modern AAA games are ass.
I would also say that indies are within an arms length of AAA shit factor too.

I'm just tired of a lot of memes in it.
"Procedurally generated open world survivalcraft sandbox rogue lite soulsborne with RPG elements!!!"

"Immersive emergent emotional story driven...thing about depressed white girls with boring designs!!!"

"Another Metroidvania with TONS of talking."

"Another. Fucking. Farming game!!!"

[neorichieb1971]

I want God Of war back the way it was.

If there are more than 10 minutes of dialogue in any game at the start I switch it off. I prefer "get on with it" games. I played Bloodstained a few weeks ago, I got an hour in and turned it off.

Give us games that fit on 4gb storage mediums only. Thats enough to fit a game without the waffle.

Game developers are too fascinated with Earth physics, people, trees and realism. Those things do not make a good game, they just show the power of the console/PC.

I only like playing games with people. Not online. MP is good, but not online. I don't care how good someone is at a game that I don't know unless I am interested in copying their hard labor.

Gaming has no soul anymore, but everyone has an opinion on it, to the point that my youtube and social media is absolutely busting at the balls.

Games are too long, if a game is reviewed and they say you can beat it in 3 hours. I buy it. I don't care about longevity. I played Ridge Racer and Mario 64 for 6 months straight and one of them had 1 track and the other I beat in a month, but I wanted to stay in those worlds. There is a difference between wanting to stay in the world, and making the world so big you'll never see it all with a full time job.

Consoles should no longer exist and I'm probably not going to buy any after the switch.

I preferred it when Japan had Sega, Nintendo and Sony only. I have never played an Xbox. It was the start of the end for me.

[copy-paster]

also turn based jrpgs don't suck whoever said that fuck ur dog

Jokes on you I never owned a dog.

Turn-based in general just not to my liking. Wait for 5-10 seconds for your/enemy turn? And you have to take damage most of the time when it's enemy turn? Yeah but how about you just kill 'em right in their face with no damage really quick, no waiting and they're dead. This is especially worse if you have random enemy encounter in old Jarpigs.

[copy-paster]

I want God Of war back the way it was.

As good as old GoW gameplay is, kinda glad they stop adapting old controls in 4 or else the series would've been in 8-bit Mega Man situation (stagnant shit). I have to say GoW 1 probably my least favorite entry, you only get 3 boss battles, annoying puzzles, and subweapons that you probably won't use at all.

[XoPachi]

If there are more than 10 minutes of dialogue in any game at the start I switch it off. I prefer "get on with it" games.

If its going to be particularly chatty, I want a skip button.
I genuinely believe video games have never had anything of value to say and are consistently used poorly as a narrative vehicle.

VG characters suck. VG stories suck. They will never match literature or cinema in narrative prose and have never come close. So I just wish they would shut the fuck up, stop emulating Hollywood, epics, and TV, and just play to their strengths. Because they're SO much better when they do.

The best approach to story in a game to date is Super Metroid. It doesnt talk beyond an initial recap which only makes sense. You experience what happens directly as an *active participant* as opposed to being a spectator listening to stupid characters talk about nothing for 80 hours (JRPG's).

And its just a straight forward space adventure where the plot is carried through gameplay exclusively. Everything else is subtle world building that halts none of the action.

[neorichieb1971]

If there are more than 10 minutes of dialogue in any game at the start I switch it off. I prefer "get on with it" games.

If its going to be particularly chatty, I want a skip button.
I genuinely believe video games have never had anything of value to say and are consistently used poorly as a narrative vehicle.

VG characters suck. VG stories suck. They will never match literature or cinema in narrative prose and have never come close. So I just wish they would shut the fuck up, stop emulating Hollywood, epics, and TV, and just play to their strengths. Because they're SO much better when they do.

The best approach to story in a game to date is Super Metroid. It doesnt talk beyond an initial recap which only makes sense. You experience what happens directly as an *active participant* as opposed to being a spectator listening to stupid characters talk about nothing for 80 hours (JRPG's).

And its just a straight forward space adventure where the plot is carried through gameplay exclusively. Everything else is subtle world building that halts none of the action.

~I loved Super Monkey Ball on Gamecube. Then they made a sequel with a story

[Air Master Burst]

I genuinely believe video games have never had anything of value to say and are consistently used poorly as a narrative vehicle.

VG characters suck. VG stories suck. They will never match literature or cinema in narrative prose and have never come close. So I just wish they would shut the fuck up, stop emulating Hollywood, epics, and TV, and just play to their strengths. Because they're SO much better when they do.

Spec Ops: The Line is the only real major exception to this I've played. That game is a better adaptation of Heart of Darkness than Apocalypse Now.

[BIL]

KCET turned in very respectable efforts with Silent Hill and its sequel. Intensely personal horror stories that understand the values of minimalism and restraint. However, this comes with the caveat that 99% of their dramatic content is delivered in-game; things seen, heard and overcome along the way. There's no need for extravagant cutscenes when you've got classic horror minimalism, the sort that challenges observers to catch and piece together myriad little details on their own time.

Hollywood, that nest of sex predators, decided the first game's Harry needed to be sex-swapped, because who would believe a story of selfless parental duty - adoptive parental duty, at that - starring a man?

I think there's a firm distinction between games that happen to tell stories, and games that try to ape the experience of watching a movie. Miyazaki's Bloodborne is another good one - very oldschool KCET in its economic, cutscene-light tale of rapacious NeoVictorian science and the things that took notice.

[ZellSF]

For an opinion of my own: Tetris is a terrible game.

Modern games are pretty much all complete garbage.

That might not seem like an original or unpopular take, but I mean to apply it near-universally. Yes, even that modern game

Pretty sure a ton of old people agree with it even with that stipulation, and a lot of young people too (to be edgy/unique/whatever). Hardly an unpopular opinion.

Most of the good JRPGs don't require grinding.

Now I'm really curious what the good JRPGs are, because it sounds like you're saying it isn't any of the classics, most which require some grinding.

How obsessed JRPGs are with making you spend hours grinding is what makes that genre a slow sluggish mess. I'm really confused by people who think turn based combat is why.

Sunshine is by far the best Mario platformer.

Resident Evil 4 ruined the franchise.

Metal Gear Solid 3 ruined the franchise.

Invisible War is the best Deus Ex game by a country mile.

Vice City is the worst GTA.

Baldur's Gate 2 is a railroading pile of garbage.

Source was the best Counter-Strike.

I'm sure I'll remember more nuclear spicy hot takes later, but that should provide enough scorn to start us off!

Those are some interesting takes, the only one I don't understand (not the only one I disagree with) is the one about Invisible War. I mean it's a good game and definitely worth playing for fans of the series... But best by a country mile?

[Marc]

Sunshine isn't even the best Mario 3D platformer.
Invisible War was a great game, but not a patch on the original or Mankind Divided.

Erm....
90% of vert shmups with hori scrolling have some sort of cheapness issue and thus suck.
Sorry, but 2D Sonic games mostly suck.
The majority of 3D vs fighters swerved way too much away from the 'a decent selection of base moves and a few specials' to endless lists of variations on 'P, P, K, P+K', and I can't be arsed with them.
WipeOut 64 was the best of the series.

[drauch]

Almost cut my hand opening up this thread. Some sharp edges!

Some of these it's like aye, you don't like it, whatever. You're wrong and an idiot, so that's on you. No judgement here!

But really, just trying to wrap my ahead and around the Invisible War one. That's perplexing and I want to hear more.

My diehard opinions are, um... dying. I think my only hot-take to contribute is with the turn-based struggle. I adore turn-based tactics, but I sorta hate just your standard 'positioning doesn't matter, you don't move in combat' stuff like most blobbers and classic JRPGs like Final Fantasy where all your doods are one one screen standing and you just take turns walloping on one another. I can't for the life of my appreciate this as legitimate difficulty when so much of it is chance. And hell, I still play stuff like this, but I've never understood the xtreme difficulty level converts. I'd actually like to hear someone describe what makes a hard, 'simple' turn-based game compelling. Probably just not my bag, baby.

Hmm, let's see. I guess I do have more! Hate long 'juggle' fighters like Guilty Gear, Blazblue, MvC, etc. I especially hate MvC2 matches where it's just a long string of combos where the other player can barely do anything, just waiting for a potential miniscule opening. But at least somebody is doing something, unlike my ad-naseum bitching with 'cinematic' supers in modern fighters, where you're just sitting and waiting. Dunno mayne, I think it's piss design and I don't get how it's accepted and widely used now. It's a fuggin' flow buzzkill.

Oh yeah, and Kojima suxxx. Now I'm cutting my fingers on the keyboard!

[m.sniffles.esq]

Oh, wow, the system seller is...a tennis game?

I truly have no idea what game you're referring to.
Virtua Tennis? Cosmic Smash? VT games were niche at best and CS was released at the end of the DC's life (and not even in the west)
Dreamcast system sellers were like Soul Calibur, NFL 2K, Marvel vs Capcom, Jet Grind/Set, maybe Seaman if you were a weirdo

[Rastan78]

Bioshock Infinite is a horribly designed game with its head stuck too far up its own arse - Wolfenstein The New Order does every single thing that game tries to do, but better, and it doesn't even take itself seriously.

Took the words right out of my mouth. Not a huge FPS guy, but I found infinite to be a slog outside of the pretty presentation and the overall atmosphere which was of course well done. New Order on the other hand might be up there near my all time favorite FPSs.

New Order did something I think a lot of modern games could learn from. In a game that is mostly nonstop action they'll take a break and for a good solid chunk of time you'll do a section that is just worldbuilding and fetchquesting. The key is that bc they don't throw that at you every 20 mins it's actually a welcome respite and feels meaningful in the way it contrasts with the rest of the game.

Or there are just random little moments like where instead of carrying a gun you're serving espresso.

Too many games now don't know what their strong suit is, so they try to be all things to all people. It's action, but it's story, and it's crafting, and it's exploration, and it's leveling up, and it's collecting loot, and its puzzle solving, and it's unlockables, and it's multiplayer. You end up feeling like ok here we go again another cut scene. OK I'm back in the fucking upgrade tree again. OK I'm sliding a crate up to a wall so I my partner can pull me up.

New Order figured out what it wanted to be: a true single player FPS with intense satisfying combat. Then they doubled down on that and stuck the landing. So when they pepper in those other elements and have you taking a break from the action it's a welcome break, and feels like it was put there for a reason. Not simply because some focus groups demands that every game check off a certain number of elements.

By that rationale, I'd argue thay if Infinite knew what it did best it would barely even need to be an FPS. Since the world and the storytelling are arguably it's better aspect, maybe it would be more interesting to experience it while not being forced to play a mediocre COD every few minutes.

[drauch]

Yeah, NFL2k and 2K1 were in the top 10 of sales from what I'm finding. Which sucks. Sonic Adventure was at the top.

[BrianC]

Oh, wow, the system seller is...a tennis game?

I truly have no idea what game you're referring to.
Virtua Tennis? Cosmic Smash? VT games were niche at best and CS was released at the end of the DC's life (and not even in the west)
Dreamcast system sellers were like Soul Calibur, NFL 2K, Marvel vs Capcom, Jet Grind/Set, maybe Seaman if you were a weirdo

Virtua Tennis sold well but isn't even close to the sales of Sonic Adventure and Crazy Taxi. According to sales charts, Capcom's bestselling game on the DC was Resident Evil Code Veronica. Ready 2 Rumble Boxing was Midway's big seller on DC. It actually sold more than Hydro Thunder, San Franciso Rush 2049, and NFL Blitz 2000.

[Blinge]

Super Metroid is ass

....
Hollywood, that nest of sex predators, decided the first game's Harry needed to be sex-swapped, because who would believe a story of selfless parental duty - adoptive parental duty, at that - starring a man?

I think there's a firm distinction between games that happen to tell stories, and games that try to ape the experience of watching a movie. Miyazaki's Bloodborne is another good one - very oldschool KCET in its economic, cutscene-light tale of rapacious NeoVictorian science and the things that took notice....

This isnt unpopular opinions birru

[Air Master Burst]

Yeah, NFL2k and 2K1 were in the top 10 of sales from what I'm finding. Which sucks. Sonic Adventure was at the top.

To be fair, NFL2K was fucking amazing.

Those are some interesting takes, the only one I don't understand (not the only one I disagree with) is the one about Invisible War. I mean it's a good game and definitely worth playing for fans of the series... But best by a country mile?

Invisible War was a great game, but not a patch on the original or Mankind Divided.

But really, just trying to wrap my ahead and around the Invisible War one. That's perplexing and I want to hear more.

I adore Invisible War so much because it does the CHOICES MATTER thing a lot better than any other Deus Ex. The original gave you more tools as far as how you wanted to approach any given situation, but that usually all just boiled down to either sneaking or shooting. Invisible War has much more interesting and engaging interactions with NPCs, and you get to influence the setting around you to a greater degree. The much-maligned smaller environments probably helped facilitate this since it really does feel like a quality-over-quantity approach. It also handles multiple-choice endings WAY BETTER than any other immersive sim, except maybe Prey.

The first Deus Ex is great and all, but Invisible War just did everything I cared about a lot better. Human Revolution and Mankind Divided are just PS2-era MGS games with NPC hubs instead of endless codec conversations (which is dope as hell but scratches a very different itch for me). I also adore Consortium, so that should give you some idea of what I like about immersive sims.

ALL THAT SAID, the universal ammo was probably a bad idea. I didn't mind it personally since I usually do stealth/pacifist runs, but I get why everyone hates it.

ETA: You have no idea how desperate I am for the Consortium team to finish The Tower!

[Sima Tuna]

I want God Of war back the way it was.

As good as old GoW gameplay is, kinda glad they stop adapting old controls in 4 or else the series would've been in 8-bit Mega Man situation (stagnant shit). I have to say GoW 1 probably my least favorite entry, you only get 3 boss battles, annoying puzzles, and subweapons that you probably won't use at all.

How dare you!

God of War 1 has the only story in the series that makes sense. All the ones after that became overwrought melodrama, where Kratos crybullied the gods and proclaimed his victimhood while standing knee-deep in the gore of people who never wronged him. GoW 1 was still firmly in the "epic tragedy" genre. It's hard to argue with the righteousness of Kratos' journey when Ares is literally in the background burning and destroying shit as a giant kaijiu, and taunting Kratos with the ghosts of his dead family.

The shortness and other flaws of GoW 1 are a product of it being the first one. The subweapon thing, however, is a common issue for most of the games. The chains of olympus feel so amazing to use that it's hard to justify using anything else. That's been a problem in every (classic) GoW game. Even so, I probably use the sword in GoW 1 as much as I use the alternate weapons in the other games. Which is to say, not very much, but at least they get some use. Subweapons too. I remember the lightning bolt throw and medusa head seeing some play in specific cases. But generally, it's too enjoyable to swing the Chains around like a berserk human blender.

I won't defend the platforming or puzzles in god of war 1. The team learned from those and even created meme achievements later that would make fun of how shitty balancing on a beam was.

I, too, want GoW back the way it was. Between GoW 1, GoW 2 and Ghost of Sparta, we had a fun set of what would be called today "light character action games." Not as hard or demanding in execution as ninja gaiden black, nor as perfectly crafted as DMC3, but still fun. You could still crank the difficulty up and get a raw bottom. GoW4, for me, is emblematic of all of the sins of AAA. Not least of which is stealing the name and reusing it, so as to thwart any attempts to discuss/research the original game online.

[neorichieb1971]

Final Fantasy games are (at least those in the teens) are just disc fillers.

[m.sniffles.esq]

drauch wrote:
Yeah, NFL2k and 2K1 were in the top 10 of sales from what I'm finding. Which sucks. Sonic Adventure was at the top.


To be fair, NFL2K was fucking amazing.

Yeah, not sure what that's all about. 2k completely revolutionized sports games, then 2k1 refined that to be one of the best games ever. Sports or otherwise

And don't ask me how I forgot about Sonic and Crazy Taxi. Even as I was writing 'Soul Calibur' I was thinking "what was the other big lanuch title??"

duh

[BIL]

....
Hollywood, that nest of sex predators, decided the first game's Harry needed to be sex-swapped, because who would believe a story of selfless parental duty - adoptive parental duty, at that - starring a man?

I think there's a firm distinction between games that happen to tell stories, and games that try to ape the experience of watching a movie. Miyazaki's Bloodborne is another good one - very oldschool KCET in its economic, cutscene-light tale of rapacious NeoVictorian science and the things that took notice....

This isnt unpopular opinions birru

I can't resist going for big meaty stiff targets Still, even in a featherlite throwaway thread like this one, I think it's worth pointing out. This place's genres d'etre being ostensibly H4RDCOR3 n XTREEM, and the mainstream pumping out no end of cutscene-driven sub-Hollywood shite, it's easy to forget narrative isn't anathema to good gaming.

You know the last time I played BB,

Spoiler

I'd finally figured out what the Blue Elixir is for - buying you a couple seconds' to get into a crowd and shred 'em from the inside out, rather than chipping away at their edges - and was merrily tearing through Research Hall in a single-coin stylie. Got my shit ruined upstairs (From patch that stairs V-ATK glitch pls 3;) and had to fall back to Adeline, who was in full withdrawal with her questline near its end. Mashing on "X" for lifesaving BLAHD, I accidentally denied her request, which caused her to weep frantically - before eventually giving me what I'd came for anyway. Only muted sobbing and a "Give Y/N" prompt precede each refill afterward.

She'll remain like that until you hand over her last fix and, well, you know. A deeply sad tale with some semblance of relief. The "deny" response revealing that she'll uphold her end of the bargain, though - maybe out her established compassion? or maybe out of futile junkie desperation? - made me even sadder, even having triggered it accidentally.

...I always spare Fat Boi in Cainhurst's courtyard, too. I've known a few Fat Bois IRL - the bitch of it is, you can't do anything to help them ditch the weight. I used to wish I could burn calories for them, you know?

That's an authentic portrayal of suffering. There's no need to append "for a game" onto it. Could she have been a spigot in the wall and saved me some minutes? Yeah, sure, but I think it'd take one thoroughly boring cunt to actually want that.

Choir, preaching to, I know. As XOpachi said in his own post, the trick is to narrate in a medium-appropriate style. And to have a decent knack for telling stories in the first place, ofc. If your story is shite, no degree of seamless directorial elan will make it appealing; at best, people will politely ignore it while enjoying the game. Although - and here is where STORIES GTFO does have some traction - it'll be infinitely worse if it's all your game has, pardon some equally throwaway guff stringing those cutscenes together.

[o.pwuaioc]

Pretty sure a ton of old people agree with it even with that stipulation, and a lot of young people too (to be edgy/unique/whatever). Hardly an unpopular opinion.

There's a whole thread a couple months ago where people were defending modern games tooth and nail. I'm with Sima, but a lot of people really like modern games, or at least continue to play them religiously.

Oh, wow, the system seller is...a tennis game?

I truly have no idea what game you're referring to.
Virtua Tennis? Cosmic Smash? VT games were niche at best and CS was released at the end of the DC's life (and not even in the west)
Dreamcast system sellers were like Soul Calibur, NFL 2K, Marvel vs Capcom, Jet Grind/Set, maybe Seaman if you were a weirdo

Virtua Tennis sold well but isn't even close to the sales of Sonic Adventure and Crazy Taxi. According to sales charts, Capcom's bestselling game on the DC was Resident Evil Code Veronica. Ready 2 Rumble Boxing was Midway's big seller on DC. It actually sold more than Hydro Thunder, San Franciso Rush 2049, and NFL Blitz 2000.

I'm exaggerating, but Virtua Tennis was *not* niche, was hotly hyped, and got a sequel with either Serena or Venus Williams, I can't remember which, adoring the cover. Sonic Adventure was a mess and only fun to kids. Crazy Taxi was awesome, but it landed on later consoles. (Personally, don't care, I still play it on my DC.) Ready 2 Rumble Boxing was so huge, but honestly, I always thought it was a bit lackluster, and still do. It's not longer one of the games I own or want to own for the system. But I feel that way about most of the DC's library. A handful of fun racers and a few other gems amidst a sea of mediocrity and butchered nostalgia.

[Air Master Burst]

VT wasn't quite a system seller but everyone played it.

Also don't forget the Dreamcast has a shitload of near arcade-perfect ports. That doesn't mean as much as it used to given many of them eventually found their way to later consoles or PC, but you're not really missing out on anything by playing them on Dreamcast.

Also the original Japanese version of Jet Set Radio is the superior version and it's never been ported anywhere.

Sonic Adventure is a mess, but when it gets it right it's a blast, and the soundtrack is god tier. And the Chao Garden will always fucking rule.

[ZellSF]

Pretty sure a ton of old people agree with it even with that stipulation, and a lot of young people too (to be edgy/unique/whatever). Hardly an unpopular opinion.

There's a whole thread a couple months ago where people were defending modern games tooth and nail. I'm with Sima, but a lot of people really like modern games, or at least continue to play them religiously.

Yeah, but a lot of people also don't (I'm not one of them), so it isn't an unpopular opinion. And unpopular opinion is one where basically no one agrees with you. Not one where a lot of people both agree and disagree with you.

I mean by that criteria I could add "Final Fantasy VII is a really good game" to this thread. It's an unpopular opinion because lots of people disagree with me.

[Sumez]

New Order did something I think a lot of modern games could learn from. In a game that is mostly nonstop action they'll take a break and for a good solid chunk of time you'll do a section that is just worldbuilding and fetchquesting. The key is that bc they don't throw that at you every 20 mins it's actually a welcome respite and feels meaningful in the way it contrasts with the rest of the game.

Or there are just random little moments like where instead of carrying a gun you're serving espresso.

This is actually exactly one of the things I had in mind when I compared it to Bioshock Infinite. That kinda thing is sort of a staple of many modern games due to how they rely on superficial qualities rather than pure gameplay, but most of them are also really bad at it. The New Order just paces those moments incredibly well. In Bioshock Infinite, whenever I was out gunfighting I was constantly bothered by how long it dragged out, and whenever the game expected me to stroll around and just enjoy the scenery, I was itching to come out shooting at stuff again. Wolfenstein TNO never has this issue.

New Order figured out what it wanted to be: a true single player FPS with intense satisfying combat. Then they doubled down on that and stuck the landing.

They also managed to seamlessly blend in stealth though, and in a very enjoyable way too. Which I think is admirable considering that aspect seems to be one of the more common parts of that overabundant toolbox you mention, and it never works well when other games try to awkwardly tack it on.

[Sima Tuna]

Pretty sure a ton of old people agree with it even with that stipulation, and a lot of young people too (to be edgy/unique/whatever). Hardly an unpopular opinion.

There's a whole thread a couple months ago where people were defending modern games tooth and nail. I'm with Sima, but a lot of people really like modern games, or at least continue to play them religiously.

I wasn't even thinking of "on this forum," either. I meant more generally, on the internet writ large. The amount of shilling I have seen for Naughty Dog, Dad of War 4, Kojima Delivery Simulator and similar titles is unreal. I would expect this forum to have a more jaded view on modern games, but the rest of the world certainly does not! Every AAA new release gets showered in sweaty journo consoomer coom while normies scream in ecstasy, "yes! More! This is the best game ever made! No wait! This other AAA walking sim is the best game ever made!"

https://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-5/stray

User and critic reviews both high as fuck for a walking sim with essentially no gameplay. "Combat" in this game is pointing the camera at enemies and bathing them in a UV light. Which causes them to near-instantly combust. (((Gameplay))) amounts to walking around and talking to stupid fucking robots or following painfully obvious, context-sensitive platforming. Can it even be called platforming when you're just interacting with context-sensitive zones? It's a fucking rail-walker. I'm not trying to single out this game as particularly shit, either. It's not. This is painfully representative of the garbage that the mainstream ENDLESSLY churns out, to the screaming adulation of the crowd.

https://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-36 ... -gaiden-ii

According to both users and reviewers, Ninja Gaiden II is a worse game than Stray. Sounds good?

An acceptable update in terms of presentation, but regretfully somewhat lacking in the new gameplay features the move to a new generation should demand. Regretfully, it is far from the spectacular game many hoped it would be when it was first announced. It grasps on too tightly to what came before, refusing to give gamers the freedom other games in this generation have offered.

"How dare Ninjer Gaiden 2 not be an open world title!"

https://www.metacritic.com/game/switch/ ... s-ultimate

The best monster hunter game ever released to date is only an 80% meta title. Your average garbage walking sim is going to rank higher. And yet, Gen U will be remembered for decades. People will play Gen U long after the walking sim du jour has faded into the trash heap.

https://www.metacritic.com/game/switch/caladrius-blaze
https://www.metacritic.com/game/playsta ... rius-blaze

^If we come back to shmups, amazing games like Caladrius get barely any attention. When they do, they invariably are shit upon from great height by fools who know nothing.

a somewhat decent bullet hell game...very short...takes less than an hour to beat though.

Imagine complaining that a single run takes less than an hour... In a shmup.

[m.sniffles.esq]

but Virtua Tennis was *not* niche,

I really don't know what circles you run in, but they're very different from mine

was hotly hyped,

So was Sega Bass. I guess Bass fishing is also mainstream. It only sold 20,000 less than VT!

and got a sequel with either Serena or Venus Williams

It was both of them. I know we all look a like to you but that actually is two different people on the cover (I'm joking. Sorry, low hanging fruit, and all). Anyway, it's a pro tennis game, who else they going to put on the cover? Billie Jean King? She was only retired for 15 years at that point. Lindsay Davenport? Do you know what Lindsay Davenport looks like on sight? Probably not. But you knew the black girl with the tennis racket had to be one of the Williams girls.

Anyway, it's hard to find reliable sales figures anymore. But from every list I can dig up, VT is firmly under Sonic Adventure 2 and World Series Baseball, two of the Dreamcast's more infamous flops (and it probably only sold that much because it was $19.99 for the majority of it's shelf life)

(edit: Whoops, forgot the summation...)

So if you wanted to be "Dreamcast is overrated, the collection is ultimately pretty mediocre" Sure. I can understand that. Even if you were "Dreamcast is overrated, white plastic gets yellow and gross looking" I can even get behind that. But singling out Virtua Tennis?? That's just... odd